Yes, I believe in TD (total depravity), but there are some days when it seems to me to be more total than it does on others. First, I suppose that I should explain total depravity to those readers who may be unfamiliar with the Reformation. TD is one of the five points of Calvinism, and it means that sin has infected every part of who we are as humans. It does not mean that we are totally bad, just that we are totally infected. You might think of it as adding yeast to dough. Once it has been added, the entire loaf will respond to the yeast.
There are days (well, maybe not entire days, but days) when everything works as it should, people are kind, and I find it hard to believe in evil. Usually, I’m on vacation on those days. Then there are days when I get the flu, my whole body aches, my air-conditioner breaks down, people disappoint me, black ooze comes up from the drain pipe, and am I over-sharing? On those days, TD is easy to understand because, to put it simply, there is something wrong with everything.
The problem is that when I observe this TD, let’s say for the sake of argument, in someone like you, the Bible keeps pointing me back to myself. As Paul tells me in Colossians 3:14, “Hey, You! Bear with one another! Forgive that guy! JUST LIKE THE LORD FORGAVE YOU, SO YOU MUST FORGIVE!” (Emphasis God’s) What I need to understand is that you and I both have the same TD infection, but God doesn’t. Although he owes no apologies, he forgives, then he tells me, “Tag, you’re it!”